Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) are commitments made by individual countries to outline their proposed actions to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. These contributions are submitted by countries as part of the global effort to address climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). INDCs serve as a key mechanism for countries to communicate their climate goals, policies, and priorities to the international community.

Key features of INDCs include:

1. Scope and Coverage: INDCs cover a wide range of climate-related actions, including mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer, capacity-building, and transparency measures. Each country determines the scope and coverage of its INDC based on its national circumstances, priorities, and capacities.

2. Mitigation Targets: INDCs include quantifiable targets and objectives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions or enhancing removals of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. These targets may be expressed in absolute terms (e.g., reducing emissions by X percent below a certain baseline year) or relative terms (e.g., reducing emissions intensity per unit of GDP).

3. Adaptation Plans: INDCs also outline strategies and measures for adapting to the impacts of climate change, such as building resilience to extreme weather events, sea-level rise, droughts, floods, and other climate-related hazards. Adaptation plans may include investments in infrastructure, ecosystem restoration, disaster risk reduction, and capacity-building initiatives.

4. Implementation and Support: INDCs may specify the policies, measures, and actions that countries plan to implement to achieve their climate goals. They may also identify the support, resources, and assistance needed from the international community to implement these actions effectively, including financial support, technology transfer, capacity-building, and technical assistance.

5. Transparency and Accountability: INDCs are subject to transparency and accountability mechanisms under the UNFCCC, which require countries to regularly report on their progress in implementing their commitments, measuring their emissions, and achieving their climate goals. Transparency ensures that countries' actions are measurable, reportable, and verifiable, enhancing trust, confidence, and cooperation among parties.

INDCs play a crucial role in the international climate negotiations and the implementation of the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. By outlining their climate commitments and actions through INDCs, countries contribute to the collective effort to address climate change and transition to a low-carbon, resilient, and sustainable future.

Human security refers to the protection and empowerment of individuals and communities from various threats to their safety, well-being, and dignity. It encompasses multiple dimensions that are interconnected and essential for ensuring the security and resilience of people in diverse contexts. The dimensions of human security include:

1. Physical Security: Physical security refers to protection from direct threats to life and bodily integrity, including violence, armed conflict, crime, and accidents. It encompasses measures to ensure personal safety, access to justice, and freedom from physical harm or coercion.

2. Economic Security: Economic security involves access to sustainable livelihoods, adequate income, and basic necessities such as food, water, shelter, and healthcare. It includes protection from poverty, unemployment, economic exploitation, and socioeconomic disparities, as well as opportunities for economic empowerment and social mobility.

3. Food Security: Food security entails access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet dietary needs and preferences for an active and healthy life. It encompasses availability, access, utilization, and stability of food sources, as well as resilience to food crises, hunger, malnutrition, and food-related health risks.

4. Health Security: Health security involves protection from threats to physical and mental health, including disease outbreaks, pandemics, environmental hazards, and inadequate healthcare services. It encompasses access to healthcare, preventive measures, health education, and social support systems to promote well-being and resilience.

5. Environmental Security: Environmental security refers to protection from environmental degradation, pollution, natural disasters, and climate change impacts that undermine ecosystems, livelihoods, and human health. It encompasses conservation, sustainable resource management, climate adaptation, and resilience-building measures to safeguard natural resources and ecosystems for present and future generations.

6. Community Security: Community security involves protection from social conflicts, discrimination, displacement, and breakdown of social cohesion that threaten peace, stability, and social harmony. It encompasses inclusive governance, human rights protection, social justice, and conflict resolution mechanisms to promote social cohesion, diversity, and resilience in communities.

7. Political Security: Political security entails protection from authoritarianism, human rights violations, political repression, and governance failures that undermine democratic institutions, rule of law, and civic freedoms. It encompasses participation, accountability, transparency, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms to ensure inclusive and responsive governance systems.

By addressing these interconnected dimensions of human security, individuals and communities can build resilience, promote well-being, and pursue sustainable development in a changing and uncertain world. Human security approaches prioritize the protection and empowerment of people, ensuring their rights, dignity, and opportunities for a better future.

Assessment of social-ecological systems (SES) involves evaluating the interactions between human societies and their surrounding ecosystems to understand the dynamics, resilience, and sustainability of these coupled systems. This assessment aims to identify the relationships, feedback loops, and drivers that influence the functioning and behavior of SES and inform decision-making processes for sustainable management and governance. Key aspects of assessing social-ecological systems include:

1. Understanding Interactions: Assessment of SES involves analyzing the complex interactions and feedbacks between social and ecological components, including human activities, land use patterns, resource exploitation, ecosystem services, and environmental change. This involves examining how social dynamics such as governance structures, economic activities, cultural values, and institutional arrangements influence ecosystem health, biodiversity, resilience, and adaptive capacity.

2. Identifying Drivers and Pressures: Assessment of SES identifies the drivers and pressures that shape social-ecological dynamics and influence system behavior. This includes natural drivers such as climate variability, ecological disturbances, and habitat loss, as well as human drivers such as population growth, urbanization, globalization, resource exploitation, and land use change. Understanding the interactions between drivers and pressures helps identify potential risks, trade-offs, and vulnerabilities within SES.

3. Assessing Resilience and Vulnerability: Assessment of SES evaluates the resilience and vulnerability of coupled systems to internal and external shocks, stresses, and disturbances. This involves analyzing the capacity of social-ecological systems to absorb, adapt to, and recover from disruptions while maintaining essential functions, services, and values. Resilience assessment considers factors such as diversity, connectivity, adaptive capacity, and learning processes that contribute to system resilience, while vulnerability assessment identifies factors that increase susceptibility to harm and disruption.

4. Integration of Knowledge and Stakeholder Engagement: Assessment of SES integrates diverse sources of knowledge, including scientific data, traditional knowledge, local expertise, and stakeholder perspectives, to provide a comprehensive understanding of system dynamics and inform decision-making. Stakeholder engagement and participation are essential for incorporating local knowledge, values, and priorities into assessment processes, fostering ownership, legitimacy, and effectiveness of management and governance interventions.

5. Scenario Analysis and Adaptive Management: Assessment of SES uses scenario analysis and modeling techniques to explore alternative futures, anticipate potential outcomes, and evaluate the implications of different management strategies and policy interventions. This allows decision-makers to test the robustness of management options, identify uncertainties, and prioritize actions that enhance system resilience, sustainability, and well-being. Adaptive management approaches involve iterative learning, experimentation, and adjustment of management strategies based on monitoring, evaluation, and feedback from stakeholders and ecosystems.

Overall, assessment of social-ecological systems provides valuable insights into the dynamics, resilience, and sustainability of coupled human-environment systems and supports evidence-based decision-making for sustainable management and governance. By understanding the interactions and feedbacks between social and ecological components, SES assessment helps identify opportunities for enhancing resilience, reducing vulnerability, and promoting sustainable development in a changing world.

Sub-national governments, including states, provinces, regions, cities, and local authorities, play a crucial role in driving climate action and advancing efforts to address climate change. While international agreements such as the Paris Agreement provide a framework for global cooperation, sub-national governments are often at the forefront of implementing climate policies, implementing innovative solutions, and mobilizing action at the local level. Here are some key ways in which sub-national governments contribute to climate action:

1. Policy Innovation and Leadership: Sub-national governments have the flexibility to develop and implement climate policies tailored to their specific contexts, priorities, and needs. They can enact ambitious climate targets, regulations, incentives, and initiatives that go beyond national or international commitments, demonstrating leadership and setting examples for others to follow. Policy innovation at the sub-national level can drive progress towards emissions reductions, renewable energy deployment, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, and other climate objectives.

2. Emissions Reductions and Climate Mitigation: Sub-national governments have significant influence over emissions sources within their jurisdictions, including energy production, transportation, buildings, industry, and waste management. They can implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as renewable energy mandates, energy efficiency standards, low-carbon transportation policies, carbon pricing mechanisms, and emissions trading schemes. By promoting clean energy, sustainable development, and low-carbon technologies, sub-national governments can contribute to achieving national and international climate goals.

3. Climate Adaptation and Resilience: Sub-national governments are on the front lines of climate impacts and have a critical role in building resilience to climate change. They can develop and implement adaptation strategies, infrastructure improvements, and land use planning measures to reduce vulnerability to extreme weather events, sea-level rise, flooding, droughts, and other climate risks. Investments in green infrastructure, natural ecosystems, floodplain management, water conservation, and disaster preparedness can enhance resilience and protect communities, ecosystems, and economies from climate impacts.

4. Partnerships and Collaboration: Sub-national governments often collaborate with other stakeholders, including national governments, businesses, civil society organizations, research institutions, and international agencies, to leverage resources, share knowledge, and implement climate solutions. Partnerships between sub-national governments can facilitate peer learning, capacity-building, and the exchange of best practices, enabling more effective and coordinated climate action across regions and jurisdictions. Collaborative initiatives such as city networks, regional alliances, and multi-stakeholder platforms can amplify the impact of climate efforts and accelerate progress towards shared goals.

5. Public Engagement and Participation: Sub-national governments can engage citizens, communities, and stakeholders in climate action through outreach, education, consultation, and participatory decision-making processes. By raising awareness, mobilizing support, and fostering local ownership of climate initiatives, sub-national governments can build public momentum for climate action and promote behavior change, sustainable lifestyles, and community resilience. Engaging diverse stakeholders, including marginalized groups, indigenous communities, youth, and vulnerable populations, ensures that climate policies are inclusive, equitable, and responsive to the needs of all members of society.

6. Innovation and Green Growth: Sub-national governments can drive innovation and foster green economic growth by supporting research, development, and deployment of clean technologies, sustainable practices, and climate-resilient solutions. They can create favorable conditions for green businesses, startups, and industries through regulatory frameworks, incentives, procurement policies, and public-private partnerships. Investments in clean energy, green infrastructure, eco-friendly transportation, circular economy, and sustainable agriculture can generate economic opportunities, create jobs, and spur innovation while reducing emissions and enhancing resilience to climate change.

Overall, sub-national governments are key actors in the global fight against climate change, with the capacity to catalyze action, drive transformational change, and deliver tangible benefits to communities, economies, and ecosystems. By harnessing their leadership, innovation, and collaboration, sub-national governments can contribute significantly to achieving climate goals and building a more sustainable, resilient, and prosperous future for all.

Climate change exacerbates existing gender inequalities and disproportionately affects women and girls, particularly in developing countries and vulnerable communities. Women often bear the brunt of climate impacts due to their roles as primary caregivers, food producers, and water managers, as well as their limited access to resources, decision-making power, and adaptive capacity. Climate change and gender dynamics intersect in various ways:

1. Differential Impacts: Climate change affects men and women differently due to gender disparities in access to resources, education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. Women are more vulnerable to climate-related risks such as food insecurity, water scarcity, displacement, and health impacts, exacerbating existing inequalities and socio-economic disparities.

2. Roles and Responsibilities: Women play critical roles in climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience-building efforts, including agriculture, water management, disaster preparedness, and community resilience. However, gender norms and traditional roles often limit women's participation in decision-making processes, access to resources, and leadership opportunities, hindering their ability to contribute effectively to climate action.

3. Access to Resources: Climate change exacerbates resource constraints and competition for natural resources such as land, water, and forests, further marginalizing women and girls who depend on these resources for their livelihoods and well-being. Limited access to land tenure, credit, technology, and extension services restricts women's ability to adapt to climate change and undermines their resilience to environmental shocks.

4. Health and Well-being: Climate change impacts on health, nutrition, and well-being disproportionately affect women and girls, particularly in low-income and rural communities. Women's reproductive health, maternal health, and access to healthcare services are jeopardized by climate-related disasters, food insecurity, waterborne diseases, and malnutrition, exacerbating gender disparities in health outcomes.

5. Education and Empowerment: Climate change affects access to education and opportunities for women and girls, limiting their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions, acquire climate-related skills, and participate in sustainable development initiatives. Education and empowerment programs can enhance women's resilience, agency, and leadership in climate action, enabling them to contribute to more equitable and sustainable solutions.

Addressing the gender dimensions of climate change requires gender-responsive policies, programs, and investments that mainstream gender equality considerations into climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience-building efforts. Promoting women's empowerment, leadership, and participation in decision-making processes, access to resources, education, and livelihood opportunities are essential for building gender-responsive and climate-resilient societies. By recognizing and addressing the intersecting challenges of climate change and gender inequality, societies can promote social justice, human rights, and sustainable development for all.